Familiarity among reasons in AG appointment: expert staff

As many activists are pessimistic over the future of the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) under newly-appointed chief Basrief Arief,  President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s expert staff for legal affairs Denny Indrayana defended the President’s decision, saying it was the right choice.

The selection of Basrief, a deputy attorney general retiree, to replace Hendarman Supanji was a compromise heeding two different calls, Denny said.

“The President heard one side calling for the would-be Attorney General [to be selected] from career judges, while another side demanded non-career judges. Basrief is an answer for both,” Denny was quoted as saying by tempointeraktif.com.

Denny did not deny that there might have been other considerations, including the fact that Yudhoyono has personally known Basrief for a long period of time, stemming from when the President served as coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs.

“Familiarity is among the factors, and  I think that’s natural,” he said.

Zainal Arifin Mochtar, from the Gadjah Mada University Center for Anti-corruption Studies, was pessimistic with the prospect of the AGO under Basrief’s leadership.

“He once led the office, and at that point in time he failed to perform,” Zainal said.

Gayus Lumbuun, a member of the House of Representatives commission overseeing legal affairs, contended that Basrief is a good choice.

“The President has appointed the right person, [someone] who doesn’t incite internal resistance within the institution,” he said.